It's All Relative
by Poseidonschild
Summary: Harry Potter is drawn out of his timeline and into a timeline where his parents are alive. Can he save them from Voldemort or was it a one time deal?
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

It seemed such a strange and ironic place for the event that was about to unfold to happen. Peace exuded its' self from every corner, silence dominated every table and aisle, and knowledge seeped into every shelf. It was a place where everything congregated - despair, joy, hope. Within the four walls that declared its' undisputed place, the Library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry gave sanctuary to tomes of grief, pain, and disaster, of triumph, desire, and euphoria. No past, future, or present existed within its solemn walls, it simply is. Like a lung needs air to breath, so too does a library need time; the worlds discoveries, its' changes, its' failures make the library breathe. Yes, it seemed such a strange and ironic place for the event that was unfolding...

Lily Evans, a witch of extraordinary talent, bent further over her work. She ran her hand over the pile of papers that she had been accumulating for nearly a decade - her life's work. It was finally complete. Well the preliminary stage was finished. All that was needed now was for her to come up with a way to actually test the theory that she had worked so hard on. Her fingers ran over the words she had written in her most dignified script. The words that she hoped would make all the difference.

_One last check,_ she thought. _Then I will take it to_ _Albus_.

The words tumbled fluidly from her mouth beneath her breath. Each word steady on her tongue as she contemplated each meaning. Her mind recalled the reasons she had worked so hard to create this spell, each one at the forefront of her mind as she spoke the words.

She smiled when she finished. The charm was perfect. It would...

A force slammed into her. Her back collided with something hard and jagged, her breath was evicted. She crumpled to the floor her lungs begging for oxygen that she could not provide. She tried to gasp at the air, but none would come. Light flared forcing her to close her eyes. Thunder boomed.

Then silence.

A ragged breath finally filled her tortured lung with air and then another followed. Gasping, Lily wearily shifted her weight on her hands and knees. Her back flared with pain, but she ignored it. She took a moment to steady her breath and then with a grunt she stumbled to her feet, her hand gripping a bookshelf to help her balance. Once she felt her legs were sturdy beneath her she looked around the library and her mouth fell open in astonishment. The first clear thought in her head was that Madam Pince, the librarian, was going to kill her when she saw this.

Shouting filled her ears and she turned away from the wreckage to look at the entrance. A man with a long white beard and eccentric robes rushed towards her. "Lily! Are you all right?" He panted and Lily thought that he might have run all the way from his office.

She nodded and rasped out, "I'm fine, just..." She waved her hand towards the mess only then noticing that it was shaking.

"Try not to talk," Albus said gently and then escorted her to an upturned chair which he righted and helped her sit down in. Once she was settled, he hesitantly moved forward towards the source of the mess. A thick layer of dust hung in the air and Albus must have been tired of trying to look through it for he simply vanished it. An uneasy silence filled the space as they gazed on what was revealed.

A boy lay by her table. He was unconscious from what Lily was able to tell. Far to curious for her own good, she got up on shaky legs and followed Albus' progress towards the boy. He couldn't be much older than eighteen. He wore a short sleeve shirt and jeans accenting his knobby but lithe figure. A tuft of black hair stuck up in all directions on his head. It took a moment for them to overcome their shock at seeing the young man to hear the muffled noise that was carried by the silence. Albus and Lily exchanged a look at the odd sound, for it reminded them of an infants cries. Albus rushed forward and slowly turned the young man over. Lily's legs gave out from under her when she looked upon what had been revealed, for there on the floor was a baby, hidden in the protective embrace of a young man who looked remarkably like her husband.


	2. Chapter 2

_He could hear laughter, but when he turned to look there was nothing, just a mixture of color. He turned to look before him, a neglected cottage rose from the ground. His home. He reached for the handle. _

_"Lily, take Harry! Lily, take Harry and go! Run!"_

_He gazed at the man who stood at the bottom of the stairs, his face a mirror image of his own. A cold laugh escaped his lips, he raised his wand, and with a burst of green light the man fell to the ground. _

_When the light faded he noticed that his surroundings had changed. H__e was in a nursery now, his nursery. A woman with red hair stood over the cradle, she turned to him, his eyes stared back at him._

_"Please, not Harry! Not Harry! Have mercy! Please!"_

_The eyes changed color as the woman begged, warm chocolate brown met his gaze. Again he raised his wand, green light filled the room and when it faded the woman lay sprawled at his feet. He turned to the cradle, the child's blue hair stuck out at all ends, his amber eyes met his._

_"Avada Ked-"_

Harry jerked awake, a shout on his lips. Desperately, he reached for his glasses on the side table. Teddy. He had to make certain Teddy was all right. He slammed his glasses onto his nose and began untangling himself from the sheets, desperate to reach his godson.

"Just where do you think your going young man?" A voice asked.

Harry whipped around and reached for his wand that he kept on his nightstand only to find it wasn't there. Desperate for some sort of protection he picked up the lamp on the table and turned to face the intruder.

"What do you want? What are you doing in my house?" he demanded of the person who stood only feet away from him, his arm raised ready to bring down the lamp on the intruder.

"Really!" the woman snapped, her hands on her hips. "Young man this is a hospital wing. I will thank you to put that lamp down."

Harry didn't lower the lamp, but he studied the woman more closely. She was dressed in a nurses uniform, her hair was in a tidy bun at the nape of her neck and most importantly her wand was tucked in a pocket on her apron. She seemed startling familiar. "Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked after a moment of study.

The question brought the woman up short and she peered at him. "Do I know you?"

Harry shook his head in confusion. What was Madam Pomfrey doing in his house? He looked around, now noticing the collection of beds that lined the hall, the grey worn stones stacked to make the walls, the glass pain windows that overlooked the lake, and the dark hardwood doors that barricaded the entrance. Even as he looked the doors opened and a man strode in with all the confidence of a king paying tribute to his humble subjects.

"I see our guest is awake," he observed. The lamp fell from Harry's fingers and crashed on the floor as he gapped at man whom he had once looked upon as a grandfather.

"Albus?" he gasped.

"Have we me-"

Harry had him against the wall within seconds, his hand at his throat gripping it firmly, not quite cutting off the oxygen, but enough to make him think the threat was real. Pomfrey shrieked behind him, but he did not care. He had to know, "What do you see when you look in the Mirror of Erised?"

Albus met his eyes in surprise. "No one knows the answer to that…" he rasped.

"Try me," Harry spat. He would take no chances that this man might be a death eater in disguise.

Albus studied him and Harry wondered what those bright blue orbs saw in him. "I see my sister, Ariana. My brother, my mother, and my father. I see _him_."

"Let go of him!" Someone shouted from behind him, but it was unnecessary he was already releasing his old on the older mans neck.

Harry still had him trapped against the wall as he studied Dumbledore more closely. He averted his eyes, unable to look upon his mentor any longer without the pain of loss threatening to break his heart. "Am I dead then Albus? Is that it?" he asked staring at the floor as he allowed the wall to support him.

"Why on Earth would you think you were dead, child?" Dumbledore asked, clearly perplexed. What had this child been through that the idea of death could even be an option to him.

"Nothing can bring the dead back to life Albus," Harry whispered. "It's the only thing that makes since. You can't be alive so I have to be dead."

"Child..."

"Oh Merlin, Teddy!" Harry rasped out as his heart clutched in pain as realization dawned on him. "What will become of him now? He has no one left." He sank to the floor the wall supporting his weight as his eyes filled with pain. "I'm so sorry. Teddy, I'm so sorry," he whispered as he rolled his head back and forth in denial.

"Child you are not dead," Albus said bending so that he came into Harry's line of sight. "I have a fairly good idea about what happened, but I need you to tell me, what year is it?"

Harry stared at him. "I'm not dead?"

"No."

Harry studied Albus a moment longer. "But you do not know me?"

Albus hesitated but shook his head. "I'm sorry young man, but I am not familiar with you."

"Have I gone back in time then? Is that why you asked for the year?" Harry asked softly.

"I'm not entirely certain yet," he replied honestly. "Can you tell me the year?"

"Nineteen-ninety-eight. The end of summer," Harry replied.

"I see." Albus studied him for a moment. "Would I be correct in assuming that your name is Harry James Potter?"

Harry frowned, "I thought you said you didn't know me?"

"I do not," Albus assured, reaching out and gripping his shoulder. "It was an educated guess. Let's get you up and then I can answer all of your questions. First, I have one of my own. You had a baby in your arms when we found you, can you tell us who it is?"

"Teddy?" Harry asked as he began to look around frantically for the little boy. "He's here? Where? Where is he?"

"Calm yourself, he's in Madam Pomfrey's office," Albus soothed. "I'll go and ..ah, seems Lily has already retrieved him."

Harry sprang off the bed Albus had just helped him sit on and looked over his shoulder towards Teddy. He had already taken a few steps forwards when he met the eyes of the woman who carried him and stilled. "Mum?" he gasped as he looked at the Auburn haired woman. She had his eyes, like every one said. All he could do was stand there and stare.

"Yes, allow me to introduce Lily Potter, Charm's Mistress and your mother," Albus smiled congenially as he moved to stand next to Lily. "It was her experiment that brought you here."

"Her experiment?" Harry asked his expression dazed as he tried to focus on Albus.

"I'm so sorry Harry, your mother must be worried sick," Lily expressed, drawing Harry's focus back to her. "It was a complete accident I assure you, I have no idea how I brought you here, I'm so, so, sorry."

Harry just stared at her blankly. A whimper brought him out of his fogged mind and he moved forward to take his godson from his mother. He met her eyes, which he was sure mimicked his - full of wonder and amazement. He wondered why that was as he scooped Teddy from her arms.

"Hey cub, I'm here," He whispered as he shifted Teddy in his arms and moved away from his mother. She was too close and he didn't know what to do being so near her. "It's okay, I got you, I'm not leaving," he hummed as he rocked the small boy back to sleep.

"He's a beautiful little boy," Lily admired. "I must be furious with you."

"What? Why?" Harry asked turning to his mother.

"Well I can't imagine that I'm thrilled you got a girl pregnant at such a young age," Lily pointed out with a smile to remove the sting of her words.

Harry gave her a blank look before comprehension dawned on him. "Teddy isn't my son."

"He's not?" Lily asked confused.

"No," Harry sighed as if he greatly regretted that the child was not his. "Teddy is my godson."

"Oh," Lily winced. She opened her mouth to ask where his parents were and then promptly shut it. She had already stuck her foot in her mouth.

"Shall we go up to my office?" Albus suggested when it became clear neither Lily or Harry had anything more to say. "James is meeting us there and I'm sure its far more comfortable for an explanation."

"Yes, that sounds fine," Harry agreed moving towards the hospital doors.

"Wait, just a minute, young man," Madam Pomfry growled from where she had been watching the events unfold quietly from near his bed. "I want to see both you and the Teddy back here after your meeting. Am I understood?"

"Of course Madam Pomfry," Harry agreed kindly. "I would never dream of going against your orders."

"Just what I need another Potter running around," she growled as she made her way to her office and slammed the door behind her. Harry smirked at Albus and then at Lily who frowned back at him making him blush.

"Shall we?" Albus asked before leading the way to his office.

Harry followed Albus closely as they wandered down the halls, but his focus remained on Teddy. Occasionally he would find his eyes drifting to his mother to find some other similarity in his features and hers and then he would realize what he was doing and his gaze would snap back to Teddy. Then a few moments later he would watch as Albus would take a lemon drop from his robes and pop it in his mouth. Occasionally, when Harry wasn't looking, he could feel his mother watching him. Albus and Teddy seemed to be the only two in their group unaffected by the stilted silence.

"Lily!" Harry looked up from Teddy to find that they were in the corridor outside the headmasters office and a man who looked to be his twin was heading directly for them. "Are you all right? Albus said their was an accident," the man asked worriedly as he enveloped Lily into a tight hug.

"I'm fine, James," She said as returned the hug, rolling her eyes at Albus over the man's shoulder.

"If you'll come up to my office, I will explain what's happened James," Albus suggested moving towards the gargoyle that guarded his office.

James nodded and made to fallow, Lily's hand in his, when he noticed Harry. "Who are you?" James inquired, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, not knowing how he was going to answer, but thankfully Dumbledore interceded. "He's what's happened James," Albus claimed.

Harry frowned at Albus, but said nothing to argue the matter. After a moments hesitation James followed Dumbledore, Lily in tow, with Harry and Teddy bringing up the rear. Without looking at his father, Harry strode past him into the room and made himself comfortable in the chair farthest from the door. He felt James settle in the center chair, neither saying a word.

A hand came to rest on his arm and he looked up into the eyes of his mother. "I've conjured up a little play area for Teddy to sleep in," she explained softly pointing to the corner of the room.

"Thank you," Harry muttered moving to lay Teddy down.

"You're very good with him," Lily sighed as she watched Harry brush his hand over the little boys head. Harry smiled up at her warmly, drinking in the praise. It had been his greatest fear when Teddy had come to live with him. He had no idea how to raise a child. He had no examples or experiences in his own past in which to fall back on. He was working off pure instinct and advice from Molly Weasley.

"Is he yours then?" James asked curiously.

"My godson," Harry explained quietly as he settled back into his seat.

James glanced back at Teddy and then his gaze came back to rest on Harry as he studied each of them carefully. "I'm sorry," he said solemnly. "Must have been a close friend."

Harry shrugged, not willing to divulge that it had been his father's best friend that had bequeathed him godfather, and not a friend of his own. The little boy's father and been an Uncle to him in all but blood.

"Would anyone care for a cup of tea?" Albus asked, his eyes twinkling. The group shook their heads and politely declined. "Right then, onto business," he said leaning back in his chair. "James, you are familiar with Lily's work, but for the sake of our friend here, Lily would please give an explanation as to what you were working on."

"Of course," she agreed sitting up straighter. "Are you familiar with the theory of time travel?"

"Err, sort of," Harry hedged. "I mean, I have time traveled, I did it in my third year."

"Right," Lily smiled as though this announcement was a big achievement. "So, there is a theory in muggle science that time is relative. That it is not simply a linear movement through space, but a lateral movement as well. Theoretically, one could not only jump back in time, but could also jump across time as well."

"Uh, I think I follow," he said not looking at all as if he understood.

"The idea is, that for every possibility there exists a timeline in which that possibility occurred," Lily explained. "These timelines all co-exist, moving through space together, and yet separate."

Harry gazed back at her his expression bemused. "So your saying, hypothetically, I could step out of my timeline and into another timeline?"

Lily beamed, "Exactly."

Harry sighed and messaged his temples. If this conversation was headed where he was beginning to think it was headed, well - he wasn't sure he liked it. Hermione had drilled into him after their little trip to save Sirius how dangerous it was to mess with Time.

"Lily has been researching and creating a charm that could access these different timelines," Albus announced his hand motioning towards a large stack of papers that looked as though they had gone through a wind storm.

"I had just finished it today," Lily announced with no little amount of pride.

"Why would you want to create this?" Harry asked weakly. He could already picture all the dark ways a spell like this could be used and he cringed at the thought of Voldemort ever getting his hands on this piece of spellwork.

Lily looked sad and James glared at the wall above Albus' head as he gripped her hand tightly. "You are familiar with Lord Voldemort?"

"Tom," Harry nodded. "I'm familiar."

"Tom?" James asked.

"His real name," Dumbledore explained. "Not many know that. He was unrecognizable when he resurfaced in the wizarding world."

"They are two different people, and yet, they are the same," Harry disagreed. "Lord Voldemort is what Tom Riddle strived to become and what he achieved. Once you have met Voldemort, it's easier to understand. Tom is charismatic, handsome. Voldemort is neither of these things. He wastes no time on persuasion, but takes what he want's forcibly. His looks bare a remarkable resemblance to a snake," Harry described absently.

"That is a rather unique observation," Albus observed.

Harry scowled as he clenched his fists in an effort to keep the memories at bay, "I'm one of few who have had the unique displeasure of meeting both."

Albus watched him for a moment before nodding and continuing with his explanation. "Well, Lily had the inspired idea that somewhere, there had to be a timeline in which he was defeated and so her research began. It was her goal to send someone to that timeline to learn how to defeat Voldemort and then bring what they learned back here."

"I was working on this in the Library this morning and I had finally finished my calculations," Lily explained. "I was reviewing the charm before I brought it to the headmaster to look over. I like to read my work out loud, it helps me to recognize misspelled words and to make certain I have the write words written out. And that's when you showed up. I had just finished reading it out loud when, you sort of appeared out of nowhere right where I was sitting with Teddy wrapped up in your arms."

Harry stared at Lily as he tried to recall what he had been doing earlier that day that would explain his sudden appearance. "Are you saying he's from another timeline?" James gapped, his gaze flickering from Lily to Albus to Harry and then starting all over again.

"Yes," Albus nodded.

"Your sure he's not a Death Eater playing to the situation?" James asked his voice lacking any sort of conviction. He knew what they were suggesting was the truth, but at the same time, he didn't want it to be.

"I'm certain," Albus assured. "Harry knows things about me that I have never shared with anyone, that no one would be able to discover should they even want to look. I can only assume that my other self provided you with this information?"

"Yes, there were very few secrets between us in the end," Harry murmured.

"So who are you then?" James asked. Despite his reservations on the whole, he was quite enthusiastic to discover who the man was. "Your clearly a Potter. A relative of mine that I don't know about then?" he smiled eagerly.

Harry's gaze turned to Teddy feeling the need to see something that was from his own time and then he focused on his lap as he answered his father, "I'm your son. Harry James Potter."

The room was very quite, the only movement made was Lily as she stretched her arm out to place her hand on his arm in assurance.

"You lived?" he heard James gasp.

Harry's gaze snapped up to his father and narrowed in speculation. "You mean I died here?"

Lily removed her hand from his arm and stared at the window as James clasped her hand in his.

"Yes." His answer was abrupt and warned against further questioning. A warning that Harry heeded.

"I assume since my arrival here was purely by accident that I have no immediate way to get back to my own timeline?" he asked moving away from the topic of his death.

"No, but Lily and I will research the matter," Albus announced. "However, there is no simple solution, who knows how long it will be before we can discover a way to send you back." Harry nodded acknowledging the truth of that. He had very little hope of returning unless some random accidental event occurred to send him back.

"I don't understand something Albus," Lily said as she focused on the headmaster. "While I was reading the spell, I was thinking about the possibilities. I was thinking about a place where my son survived, but I was also thinking about a man who could defeat Voldemort. Why did it only bring my son?"

James did not miss the way his son suddenly tensed or the way Albus was looking at him speculatively as though an idea had occurred to him and he was waiting for Harry to confirm it. "I do not think it did," Albus said softly his gaze never wavering from Harry's.

"No," Harry sighed.

James was confused. If the spell had brought someone else into the timeline why did they not appear with Harry? It didn't make sense that this person would appear elsewhere in the world. James glanced over at Teddy. If the person arrived in their world it only made sense to arrive in the same place, but that meant that either Harry or Teddy were the one to destroy Voldemort. He highly doubted that Teddy could have done anything. Harry, while he was a fully trained wizard and was probably very well trained in defense against the dark arts do to James' own teachings, he still lacked experience.

"Please tell me you are not implying that you destroyed Voldemort," Lily said fiercely. James recognized the tone of her voice and knew she was gearing up for a lecture should Harry answer be unsatisfactory.

"The second of May this year," Harry confirmed softly as he glanced at Teddy. His eyes spoke of regret and grief.

"That was when his parents died?" James asked trying to stem Lily's tirade. He didn't know why he did it; he was of half a mind to lecture the young man himself, but there was just something about the way Harry was looking at Teddy, like he was about to break, and he knew a lecture from either of them would not help Harry at the moment.

Harry nodded, "Too many died, most hadn't even taken their NEWTs yet."

"What were you thinking?" Lily whispered, but in the quiet of the office it felt as though she had shouted.

Harry flinched away from Lily. A moment later his posture stiffened as he sat up and looked Lily directly in the eye. "I did what I had to," he growled.

"There is no way I could be okay with you going out to fight Voldemort while you were in school," Lily snapped clearly unhappy with how close her son had come to being harmed.

His gaze hardened, clearly furious. James could feel the magic being let loose. "I wouldn't know," Harry hissed. "I have never met my mother." He stood then and picked up whimpering Teddy, having been awoken by the influx of magic, and then left with a sweep of his robes. "We shall be with Madam Pomfrey," he said over his shoulder as he shut the doors behind him, leaving behind three very stunned adults.


End file.
